Happy 2024 🎉

I certainly hope it’s going to be a happy 2024- who knows though…..the last few years have been pretty rough.  

But I’m an optimist so I’ll be looking for happy days ahead.  

I made a new to do list for this week.  

To celebrate the new year coming in,  we watched a livestream from Branson last night.  It was by the Haygoods and Clay Cooper and team.  

It was really good and certainly cheaper and easier than an actual trip.  

At midnight,  they had a big ballon drop that looked really impressive on screen. 

Today,  our daughter and family came for our traditional new years lunch, based on old Southern traditions 

Black eyed peas, cabbage, rice, cornbread muffins and sausage.  

JJ is growing but I still think he and the New Year elf, bought years ago at a thrift store, resemble each other.  

Goals for 2024 

My list is short and realistic for what I could accomplish 

Daily I plan to 

Read Bible

Sew anything 

Walk 

I want to do  Casual couponing 1 or 2 deals a week 

Last week I went to CVS and got a giant jug of Tide for about $9

I plan to do small deals on products we use.  But it will be very casual.  I thought about going to Dollar General Saturday when they have the $5/25 coupon but I didn’t feel like leaving home.  

Continue decluttering and downsizing home possessions - I’ve done a lot over the last 2 years but would still like to do more. 

Pay off Avalon My husband couldn’t drive his pickup anymore (back issues) so he traded it for a comfy sedan the end of the summer.  There is a small loan with a low interest rate for the difference.  We’ve been paying extra and hope to pay it off in the spring.  

Double savings account at the credit union 

As weather permits- get back yard straightened up 

❤️ Rhonda 

New to do list and new stove

Hello everyone

It’s Tuesday but it feels like Monday so I wrote out a new to do list

It’s not real long as this isn’t a normal week but some  things need done 

My husband helped and we got quite a bit done. 

 It’s not checked off but the laundry is also finished and the Christmas decorations are packed away.  

Our decorations were up a long time this year.  

Supper was an easy meal- I used carrots, potatoes and fresh spinach that all were due to be used.  

I baked the chicken and carrots. 

About a month ago,  our bottom oven quit working and then about a week before Christmas, the top oven quit working.  

Also, the controls on the top were looking like they were on their last leg too.  

(Out stove was about 10 years old and looked like a normal stove but it had 2 ovens.  I used it so much,  I think I just wore it out) 

So my husband went stove shopping.  Our local Lowes doesn’t have much in stock but he found one that was on sale.  

It’s a Samsung and so far it is cooking so nice.  

No photos but it baked 3 batches of cookies beautifully.  

It baked 2 batches of muffins when grands were here for a sleepover. 

Chocolate chip muffins and Betty Crocker’s French Puffs 

I’m very thankful to have it.  

My only complaint is the timer sounds a little like the music from the movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind 🙄


❤️Rhonda 

Merry Christmas 2023

Merry Christmas everyone 

We had a very fun family gathering at our daughter’s home.  

We had food from Fuzzy’s Tacos. 

We had an all ages gift exchange and I think we will always do it that way.

It was so fun to the 91 year old open a remote control car and for the 6th grade boy to open a box of Tide and kitchen towels.  

In the end, all gifts were swapped and traded and everyone left happy.  

Lots of cookies were eaten too 😋 

Jeff and Rhonda 2023 

Monday- a new week, a new list

Hello everyone 

I’m ready to be back to a routine -as much a routine as is possible this time of year anyway- so I wrote out a new to do list for the week, 

I reset the guest room with some flannel sheets and it’s looking Christmasy in there 

I mixed up 3 kinds of cookie dough

Mexican wedding cookies, oatmeal cookies and sugar cookies- all are Betty Crocker recipes. 

I forgot to stir the pecans into the oatmeal recipe so I’ll use the chopped pecans for something else. 

I didn’t want to bake them this morning but I shaped 2 of the doughs into balls.  

All the dough is chilling in the fridge until I’m ready to bake.  

4 of the grands were here over the weekend which is why the guest room needed freshen up.  P

Elizabeth made this cute creation with Perler beads. 

The 3 boys said they wanted to do origami but they mostly made “ninja fighting “ instruments with paper 

Meals for the last week have all been pretty simple and cooked at home.

Beef stew with cheese and crackers 

One day I was gone in the afternoon so I made some smothered cube steaks in the crockpot and had the potatoes ready to cook at supper time 

Big salads are almost always served - my husband really likes salad 🥗 

One of the breakfasts when the grands were here- biscuits with scrambled eggs and gravy, and chocolate chip muffins 

I got a spiral ham for about $9 with Kroger delivery.  My husband smoked it and I served with a salad, green beans and box mac and cheese.  

It was a lot of ham! Some was diced and froze to add to breakfast eggs or casseroles.  Some will be used for sandwiches.  



I imagine most of you are busy with the same kind of things I am

Hope you all have a smooth and productive week 

❤️🎄❤️

Rhonda 

Want to hear about another trip?

Hello everyone 

We returned late last night from a trip to Greencastle, Indiana.

We flew so we made stops one way in Dallas Fort Worth and Indianapolis.

On the way back, we also stopped in Chicago.  

Anyway- we visited our son and family including our youngest granddaughter who is almost 5.

Greencastle is home to DePauw university and their home is on the campus.  

We did several things on campus including a Hannukah service at the spiritual center and Christmas tree ornament making event at the art center.  

We heard a really good music program in the Gobin church and enjoyed looking at the amazing stained glass. 

We went through a science building and learned about turtles and iguanas 

  

I wanted to bring home all the plants in the greenhouse.  They were just amazing! 

This hanging plant was huge!

So many brand new succulents getting started 

This tree really big and old, and seems to be thriving.  I think the director said it has been there at least 40 years.  

The blooms on the giant tree

Indiana is home to a number of covered bridges. 

With help from a map, we went looking for the 9 bridges in that Putman County.

Indiana roads are very twisty, loopy, curved, meandering- and the covered bridges are mostly in very rural areas.  (Does anyone know why?  Most all of Oklahoma is mapped in mile sections with main roads going east-west and north-south) 

We managed to find 3 in that county and 1 in the next door county.  

Even knowing how to read maps and using Google directions,  these bridges are hard to find for us newbies.  

Dunbar bridge 

Houck bridge 

Edna Collins Bridge - named for a little girl who drowned there 

All the covered bridges in Putman county  are red. 

This white one is in the adjacent county

Big Rocky Fork Bridge 

We stayed at the Inn of DePauw,  this was in the lobby and I thought it was especially pretty 

We also ate some really yummy meals at our son’s home and Greencastle has some excellent restaurants.

We even had some good meals at the airports.  

If you’re looking for a unique vacation spot,  I recommend Greencastle.  There is a lot to do there and it has the feel of Hallmark movie town- small and charming.  

We don’t have anymore trips planned.  

I’ve been working on some meals to cook and ordering some good deals from Kroger.  

Meals away are great but we really enjoy eating at home too. 

Tonight is some beef stew cooking in the crockpot.  

That’s what we’ve been doing 

❤️Rhonda